BOSTON — The Anaheim Ducks took advantage of the struggling Bruins and kept control of first place in the Western Conference.
Ryan Getzlaf scored 3:09 into overtime to lift Anaheim to a 3-2 victory over Boston on Thursday night.
"Our message yesterday was that we needed to turn around the way we are playing and play with some more excitement in playoff-style hockey and I thought we did that tonight," Getzlaf said.
Getzlaf, who also assisted on Corey Perry’s tying goal late in the third period, beat Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask from the slot with a wrist shot over his shoulder to snap the Ducks’ two-game skid.
"Terrible, terrible feeling obviously, but we played a great game and had a good kill there in the overtime and then, a loss, tough to swallow," Rask said. "When you battle until the end, you know you might get rewarded and they did."
Perry tied it with 39 seconds remaining in regulation when his shot ricocheted in off a cluster in front of the net. Patrick Maroon also scored for the Ducks and Frederik Andersen stopped 27 shots.
Anaheim remained one point ahead of Nashville atop the West. The Predators beat Tampa Bay 3-2.
Loui Eriksson and Ryan Spooner scored for the Bruins, and David Krejci had two assists in his return to the lineup after missing 15 games with a knee injury. Rask finished with 29 saves.
Boston dropped its sixth straight (0-4-2) but tied Ottawa — which has played one fewer game — for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. The Senators lost 5-1 at home to the New York Rangers.
"Yeah, you know, we need results," Bruins forward Chris Kelly said. "That’s ultimately, at the end of the day, what we’re playing for. Yeah we defended much better, but we’re still losing a point."
Anaheim was awarded a power play 38 seconds into overtime when Zdeno Chara was called for hooking.
Eriksson scored 27 seconds into the third period when he knocked in the rebound of Torey Krug’s shot to beat Andersen for a 2-1 lead.
"Obviously, it was disappointing," Krejci said. "Tough luck on our side. We got some help from Ottawa, but this would have been a really big win for us."
Anaheim’s special teams play continues to struggle as they fell to 4 for 47 on the power play over the last 21 games while allowing nine power-play goals in eight games.
Maroon gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead midway through the second period.
Spooner tied it with a power-play goal with 6:53 remaining in the period.
Cam Fowler had two assists for Anaheim after being scratched the previous game.
NOTES: Krejci, who had one goal in his last 14 games, played on the wing instead of centre for the first time in his professional career. … Boston scored a power-play goal for the fourth straight game. … The Ducks remain the last NHL team without a regulation loss when tied after two. … Spooner has 12 points in 14 games.
